centre drill
 

hi thzeor...the advice is use a bs 1 centre drill to start any small hole drilled....pop the centre drill in the chuck... drop it in a centre punch mark and before you press the trigger make sure drill is 90 degrees to work BOTH ways....bury the centre drill into the work about 6mm until it leaves a hole with a cone around it, this will allow the bigger drill to follow this hole thus improving accuracy...your drill must be sharp to drill metal....drilling alloy needs a bit of lube so wd4o or something like that and the smaller the drill the faster it needs to run....dont push down too hard, the harder you press the more the drill removes with each rev....stop every 4 -5 mm to make sure the drill flutes are not blocked...and in steel slo down the speed and feed a little and keep the drill bit cool and lubed...
happy drilling....:mdr:

just a foot note..at college to pass my level 2 engineering i had to make several parts by hand on the bench fitting course, these had to be to within +/- .25mm of the drawing and they had 20 year old drill presses for me to use, that soon taught me how to get holes nice .50mm off and its a re-make, back to the start with a raw block of metal.

Screw that for a living, I'd still be at college! :lol:

I do have some steel wool, believe I have 0 and 00 in a pack- will have to get some better paper off 'tinternet as there are precisely ZERO useful shops like that in cheery little Dartmouth- its all bloody art galleries, expensive designer clothes shops, silly little interior design type boutiques, pubs, yachty type shops ( for all the rich tourists in summer ) & one useful shop; a Travis Perkins that charges a fortune- 'trade prices' apparently :diablo:

I have been using oven cleaner, but the trouble is in the UK consumers can only lay their hands on pretty weak stuff, mainly foam sprays - cant buy the super strength gel or liquid based stuff like Greased Lightning that you can get in the States. I've trawled the web and ebay, and to import a bottle of the good stuff would cost a small fortune, so I'll have to resort to maybe a wire wheel attachment on my dremel and see it that does anything to shift the last few pockets of blue. Doesnt bother me that much, but it does look a little unsightly for sure.

Even brass wire wheels on the dremel leave pretty deep lines that then need to be sanded.

If you can't get the chemicals to do it for you sanding, IMO, is the best way to go. You were going to sand them anyway, just use your roughest grit on the blue spots.

I screwed up a few too many peices with the wire wheel:whistle:

But I like sniffing chemicals....

Interim update:

Hobbycity order arrived today, got all my wires and whatnot, along with the servo; damn, what a beaut. Was planning on testing it quickly this evening & doping to clearance work on the truck's steering mech, but I ended up helping my little sister & her boyfriend moving into their new flat (apartment)- nice place actually. Hopefully at the weekend I will make some more progress, rig the steering up and see how much throw I have after the tweaks.

Question: I bought a spare rx for my 40mhz hitec laser 6 radio, exact same model (RCD3500) as my existing one. I swapped over the crystal (no binding issues here :lol:) and hooked the rx upto the MMM in the Gmaxx just for testing; I get the first 3 rapid beeps, but then nothing, like the esc isnt getting a signal from the rx (same as when the tx is left turned off when turning on the esc). I wouldnt need to recalibrate the esc to the rado just because Im using a different, but the same, rx would I? I would wager not, but that leaves me wondering why this new (but old) rx wont work- only difference between it & my old one is that the antenna is ornage instead of the usual black. Makes me think it may have been replaced at some point and now may be damaged internally? The seller says its a 40mhz rx, but the little label is worn off- would there be anything inside the rx casing to ID the frequency, like on the pcb or not?

Though it may be somewhat illegal technically, is it possible to retune the rx at home- believe its one or two pot type components inside, or would I need an oscilator to make sure the fequency is precise; if thats the case, then I have a new paperweight I guess :sarcastic:

Dont all rush to answer at once... :P

Anyways:

Finally, after a week sitting in customs, its moving again- I expect a randsom note in the few few days or so.

I got some 1" x 1" aluminium angle in today, gonna chop that shizz up and make the battery tray later- an interesting design I have planned, shall we say..

Beyond that there isnt much left to do really:

Install MMM
Install servo saver ( when it arrives, if it actually fits )
Make battery tray
Make rx plate
Paint & trim shell

On the radio issue again, I've given up trying to find another rx that will work- few people seem to have 40mhz radios, and of those many are only single conversion ( I need dual conversion); buying new is out of the question as a 6 channel rx is like £30-40 / $45-60. So, next month, I have a plan:

http://www.modellsport-boehm.at/item...PM.6602_01.jpg

Yarrr!

I've done my reading & am aware of the batch of txs with dodgey potentiometers, and I've also seen the nice mods you can do like backlit displays in blue or orange, and adding a 'power on' LED- something I did with the laser 6. Granted, I only really need 2 or 3 channels, so could in theory get a pretty cheap stick radio and be happy, but the allure of all those buttons and switches make me warm and fuzzy inside, plus spare rxs are only ~£30; compare that to spare FM rxs of the same price and I know which is better value. I can also use a spare rx and the multiple model memory for the Gmaxx, then sell the laser 6 to recoup a fair bit of the cost.

If anyone has any thoughts on the DX6i or Spektrum radios in general, or any advice / info about quirks when programming them to the MMM etc, I would grately appreciate it.

I believe air radios use a shorter pulse width than surface radios and don't know that it would program with an MMM. Wouldn't you need a reverse pistix adapter? a xitsip adapter?:neutral:

I believe thats specifically pistol grip radios with air escs that often require the pistix- I have no issues with my laser 6 and the MMM V1, and I have seen someone with a DX6 in their TXT-1 too ( clicky, 3:30 onwards is the good stuff) with a novak SuperRooster esc. Not exactly a conventional setup, but I do want a multi-channel stick radio, and the price on the dx6i isnt much more than a new laser 6 either- so much more you can adjust justifys the layout I reckon.

I have a dx5 and a dx6, never used either. They fill the boxes up nicely, and always make me cringe when I drop them on the floor.

I bought the dx5 cause it was stupid cheap, like 40 bucks shipped. The dx6 was more expensive, but I had planned to use it with a dual motor moa crawler, but I may use it for something else, who knows. Maybe I will make some sort of battle truck like Shaun did...

Do you ever finish any of your projects dear boy?... :lol:

Hmmm, good question!

I have a finished crawler that was good to go for about 1 yr, then I sold the esc out of it. My muggy is done, and the lst was too until I robbed the hubbs off it for the muggy. I have a few pedes that I have never fooled with sice I got them going. But the bulk of the really good projects are still not finished.

I do think there may be a problem or two with using a plane radio. First one is, you have no center detent for neutral on the throttle stick. Most ESCs require a full throttle sweep to calibrate, but that won't work if you're technically using the bottom half of the stick throw for brakes and/or reverse. I'm fairly sure you can program a center position, but it would still be weird without having the spring center-return.

But then you say you've done the 4+ channel already?

I'd personally have to lock 2 of the 4 gimbals, it would annoy me even though I fly. A surface stick radio should have only up/down and left/right IMO, but I am that oldschool... still I use a pistol TX and wouldn't go back. I guess I really don't understand your issue with a trigger radio??? Are you lefty?

There may be a little sticker shock here, but here are 2 I found that would be much better suited to your purposes I think-

Futabe 2.4 2Ch http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...1&I=LXSNN8&P=3

Airtronics 'crawler' radio http://www.hobbypeople.net/gallery/751726.asp

FWIW...

hi all...that futaba one looks nice neil. oh sorry...am i reading your mind again :lol:

It woudl be much nicer if it was ~$100 cheaper! 3 channels for $250 is a bit steep for me.

On the gimble issue, its very easy to remove the ratchet mechansim and return the up and down travel to normal, same as how the other stick works- thats what I did with my laser 6 so no worries there ( seen inside the dx6i in some vids and tutorials, pretty much the same looking as a normal stick radio so easy to work on ).

I hear you on the 2 axis thing though Redshift, it is a little weird compared to a normal 2 channel stick radio, but I dont really notice it anymore- you can lock the horizontal and vertical as required on each stick, just takes a little bit of tweaking and some nimble fingers- I didnt bother out of sheer lazyness, just wanted to go drive when I first got my Gmaxx setup and running.

The airtronics radio looks just like a normal 4/6 channel stick radio, cant see any difference really- I will do some more digging though, but I think for the price and features the DX6i has me won over...

Fair enough Neil, I guess dat'll woohk :)

Price on both those radios is just stupid, really.

So, interim update time:

Yesterday the MMM V3 arrived, along the 16 and 18 tooth pinions = :) x 1,000
Today the velcro straps and servo saver arrived = :)

Less smilies in the 2nd instance as I have to cut and sew the straps to make them into Gorillamaxx style hold down straps ( currently they are just like oversized watch straps ). Its odd, you just cant buy those Gorillamaxx straps/ style of straps anywhere, even though they are just cheap straps that have the GM logo silkscreened onto them. No biggy, I am able to sew- modern man and all that :P

Gonna be the week end before I even look at doing any more work- currently only have 3 members of staff left at work including the manager and me, so having to work my days off to cover shifts as required; got new staff starting next week but even then they have to be trained up on how to open and close the store by themselves etc so could be a bust few weeks. This is good however as overtime = £££. Neil likes that, as it pays for his DX6i without denting his savings too much ( yes, I am talking in the 3rd person, my head is THAT big )- it also means he can buy his new PC desk too without further denting his saving too much either- self impossed spending limits each month is a good thing quite often.

Until the next time dear readers, peace out 8)

":smile: X 1,000!" :mdr: X 8

GM style straps.

Looking great! :eyes:

i would like some £££, can i have some £££??

Hmm, have you ever seen the film 'Indecent proposal'? :whistle:

As for the straps- close, but no cigar. The GM ones are two parters- one short strap with a buckle, and it screws down at one end of the battery tray, the other stap is longer ( no buckle, just velcro ) and also screws down at the other end of the battery tray; everything I've found is just like those tekno straps that are basically a thick watch strap type deal. Scary though- I bought 4 of the 'watch straps' for £4/ $6, vs $13.99 for 3 tekno straps...

So, more updates- photo updates too:

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...Mulligan90.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...Mulligan91.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...Mulligan92.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...Mulligan93.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...Mulligan94.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...Mulligan95.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...Mulligan96.jpg

So, trimmed the axle guard mounts to get more steering throw, trimmed the knuckles to get more throw, and finished the battery tray- didnt have to do any sewing in the end, just doubled over the ends to prevent them from ripping so easily ( like GorillaMaxx ones do quite often ) and bolted them in place. Tray is lined with craft foam, basically mouse mat foam about 3mm thick, glued in place- gives a nice snug fit for the 5s lipo brick I will be using for power.

Battery tray is mounted on the truck now, though I may go back and trim it a little either end ( chamfer the edges to 45* ). After that I need to tweak the center skid to fit the esc in underneath the tranny, and solder the connectors onto the esc.

Next month I will be buying the radio gear and that will pretty much conclude the project, save for a few tweaks & painting the shell.

:intello:

Great build Neil, looking forward to see what you do with the shell ?

Me too- still havent settled on a design yet, though I have a few vague ideas floating around in the gutter that is my mind. Chrome grill and rear bumper for sure, but main colour and design, if any (may do a solid colour, less chance of fecking it up again ) I have yet to settle on- need to do some doodling I reckon.. :smile:

Sweet fishnchips Neil!

You got a glimpse of Nessie, it's there in the top photo...

It's a bit out of focus, but it's there!

Heh, that thought did occur to me at the time I took the photo.. :lol:

So, the deed is done:

Spektrum DX6i = £129.99
Glitchbuster cap ( 4400uf ) = £2.99
4x AA 2450mah Energizer rechargeable batteries = £4.69

Interference free driving + great range & having 6 channels to play with = £priceless.

For everything else theres Paypal ( even if they do suck & are in league with the devil ). Should have that lot here by tuesday/wednesday, then I can start tinkering and getting things properly setup.

As such the truck ready pretty much, just gotta see if my new servo saver will fit ( have a feeling it wont due to the massive output shaft vs normal sized ones on normal sized servos ) and need to solder on the battery plugs to the MMM, and programme/ update that via castlelink on the PC.

Peace out :smile:

dx6i
 

hi neil...like the battery tray. just a quick note to make you aware that r/c heli controllers use ccpm mixing, if this can be turned off with the dx6i(which i should imagine you can), if not you got a problem using it with a car.

the ccpm mixing mixes the cyclic controls with the throttle i.e when throttle is increased all 3 servos on the head of the heli will all lift at the same time to increase the blade pitch, so if one cyclic control would be your steering then a throttle increase would also self steer the car.
best to find out before you purchase :yes:. if you cant find out p.m me and ill ask the guys on the heli forum who have dx6i if mixing can be deactivated.
bye neil...

Yeah, I believe thats a programmable feature- various profiles for helis and different planes, so I'll be sure to make a note of which profile works best for what I want to do during testing.

So, time to break a taboo and post up a price list of everything thats gone into the build; if you are of a nervous disposition, look away now:

LIPOS & BITS = £115.64 (£25.24)
SERVO = £15.61

TXT-1 = £175 (£20)
CHASSIS PLATES = £72.80 (£9.53)
68T SPUR = £2.95 (£.75)
HEX ADAPTORS = £24.91+8.68+2.39
SHOCKS = £56.42
SERVO MOUNTS = £10.85
BODY POSTS = £30.33
AXLE GUARD MOUNTS = £47.84 (£1.80)
3905 TRANSMISSION = £27.89 (£5.45)
PROPSHAFTS = £6.99 (£1.75)
PROPSHAFT COUPLERS = £2.71 (£1)
STEERING KNUCKLES = £33.83
ALUMINIUM L CHANNEL = £1.99 (£2)
BOLTS = £10
BEARINGS = £12.53 (£3.11)
RECHARGEABLE AA BATTS = £4.69

SUSPENSION RODS = £30

SHELL = £19.56

NEWERA SKIDS = £36
CANTILEVERS = £26.05

ROD ENDS = £15.82 (£4.69)

MMM ESC = £87.63 (£21.65)
PINIONS 16&18 TOOTH = £12.51

1518 1800KV MOTOR = £98.87 (£20.34)

DX6i = £129.99
CAPACITOR = £2.99

HOBBYCITY
EBAY
CANDYMAN
KERSHAW DESIGNS
NEW ERA
TOUGH RACING
RC-MONSTER
CASTLE CREATIONS
BRC HOBBIES

TOTAL = £1123.47 / $1,795.51 (NOT INCLUDING SHIPPING & IMPORT FEES (Prices in brackets are the shipping fees, where available) )

Cheap as chips eh? :rofl:

wot??
 

blimey neil...you skimped on that build a bit eh?? :lol:
there was i thinking id spent too much on my e-maxx :whistle:

Not bad neil looking forward to seeing the money pit complete.

Heh, this build was cheap by my standards :mdr:

Small update:

Had to change the esc mounting location, lowering the centre skid made it hang way too low for my liking. I made up a pair of rails and a platform for the esc to sit on, just behind & to the right of the motor, looks alright & the motor wires just about reach down, then up and over the esc to plug into it- may rotate the motor so the wires can be routed a little easier. I did however have to extend the power wires to reach the battery up front; not ideal, but this is a CastleCreations esc, not a Schulze, so I dont imagine the esc will go up in smoke due to a couple extra inches the electrons have to travel ( did nice clean butt joints using 10g wire ). I can always add extra caps if I deem it neccessary.

All I have to do now is make a little rx mounting plate, install the radio when it turns up, and paint the shell. Pretty happy with the overall finish, might need to do some polishing here and there ( if I can be arsed ), and the front body post mounts are a bit wibbly-wobbly for my liking, but them's minor things I can put right, nothing serious.

Will stick some more pics up tomorrow :smile:

Uh, i hate to break it to you Neil, but it is tomorrow today and there aren't any new pics here, WTF?:whip::lol:

Neil. You may want to consider Sending radio to horizon for the throttle return mod. By default they don't return to zero.

The mod is standard practice for crawler use and they do it for free

Yeah- I can do that myself though for the throttle channel, did it with my laser 6- that freaked me out initially; I was like ' oh crap, I cant drive it with a throttle that doesnt return to centre by itself', but I soon figured it out after opening up the case and removing the little stop pin & ratchet thingy. Warrenty void ftw! :mdr:

Photo time:

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...Mulligan97.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...Mulligan98.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...Mulligan99.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan100.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan101.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan102.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan103.jpg

I had to relocate the esc to a tray behind the motor like I said- couldnt make it fit under the tranny without lowering the centre skid too much. That meant extending the power wires 3 inches, but since this isnt a schulze I have faith it wont blow up randomly as a result. Couldnt just spin the battery around as the wires exit right next to the spur- 'munch munch munch' if you get my drift. There isnt enough slack/ flexibilty in the wires for them to droop and get caught in the current layout, so it should be fine. Just waiting on my DX6i now so that I can get that installed and setup, then got to paint and trim the shell and its ready to rock & roll.

Got my DX6i today.... :mdr:

Opened it up to tweak the throttle stick and make it springy like the other stick, but... the clever/ tight fisted gits at Spektrum saved money by not installing the springy arm thingy and stop-pin thingys on the throttle side. When I did the mod on my laser 6 the arm thingy was included, there was just an extra pin/ screw lifting the arm thingy up to prevent it returning the stick to neutral when released- remove the pin/screw and the ratchet arm thingy and it was how I wanted it. No such luck this time; thankfully Im a resourceful sod and just swapped the whole gimble units over, plugs included.

Got the rx bound first try using an rx pack ( 4 aa batts in a holder ), and got the esc calibrated on the second try- took me a few dozen tries with the laser 6 so that was a relief. Had to reverse the steering and throttle channels on the rx as the gimbles for left and right stick have the pots wired up in different orders, resulting in reversed/ inverted controls basically. No biggie, the DX6i menu is pretty easy to navigate and the truck now lives...

...Sort of; the bloody fecking 3905 slipper wont stay tight- the lock nut ( ha! ) undoes it self if you look at it, so I will glue that sucker up nice and tight.

Just got to make a little mount for the rxs ( weird... ) and route the wiring/ ziptie it inplace, then the truck will be ready to rock and roll! :yipi:

I got my paint & liquid mask today, so I may start doing the shell tomorrow- got a good idea in my brain how I want it to look, but I wont be giving anything away as chances are I'll feck it up again ( re: stone washed denim vs blue truefire ). Pictures and vids later...

Video time:

<object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5zPOttz002U&hl=en_GB&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5zPOttz002U&hl=en_GB&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zPOttz002U

Just a quicky, but rather... fun. :smile:

Looking good Neil.

:surprised:... wow... that thing is going to be a handful Neil... looking good man... when can we see some rolling shots?

Soon...

The weather is still freezing here, but its not wet/ raining too often so maybe next week when I have my next days off I will shoot some footage.

I have the middle 2 weeks of April off for easter so I plan to do some serious amount of driving & filming then- will hopefully have a camera man too so the footage will be pretty good for a change.

Looks great Neil
Balance those Tires !!!!!

Can't wait to finally see this thing in action!:yipi:

+1 on the tires though:whistle:

I know, I know :lol:

I need to tape the insides and find some foams that fit properly- the lack of balance is actually due to the 40 series foams inside; the hole in the middle is too large, but the actual outer diameter is too small = they do the hoopla inside the Imex tires which throws the balance completely out of whack.